Burtonwood was a support and maintenance base, and it was the biggest air base in Europe in WWII.
It opened as an RAF station on April 1, 1940, as an aircraft storage unit, taking new aircraft from the factories and preparing them for service in the RAF. They included Spitfires which fought in the Battle of Britain (June to Oct 1940), Hampden bombers, Oxford trainers and more.
It was named No 30 Maintenance Unit and expanded to take American aircraft which were obtained under the Lend-Lease program. Maintenance and support was initially undertaken at Burtonwood. The smaller aircraft travelled across the Atlantic by sea while the four-engine bombers flew across.
No operational flights took place from Burtonwood as it was too far away from German-occupied territory in Europe - but it was an extremely busy place with hundreds of aircraft on the ground at any one time.
Aircraft processed here during the short period that the US Army Air Force was in command included: the B-17 Flying Fortress 4-engined bomber; B-24 Liberator 4-engined bomber and the P-38 Lightning single engine fighter. Post-war: C-54 Skymaster 4-engine transport and WB-29 and WB-50 Superfortress 4 engine bomber converted for weather forecasting service. These excluded RAF aircraft.
The work done was to receive aircraft from the USA. Those which travelled by sea were covered in a waterproof plastic cocoon called Cosmoline. This had to be removed; the aircraft travelled with parts removed to prevent damage so they had to be re-assembled, checked and test-flown before being sent to their operational units. The larger bombers were able to fly across the Atlantic under their own power. Constant upgrading was required and modification was done at Burtonwood to all types, fighters, bombers, transport and training aircraft.
In 1945 there were 18,500 US personnel on base including many women. In addition, Burtonwood controlled more than 20 other bases spread across Britain so it had a combined responsibility for well over 60,000 personnel. It operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week with three eight-hour shifts.
There was a Flight Test department which tested each aircraft as it was made ready for service with a group of pilots constantly flying. It was common to have more than 100 aircraft either delivered in or out every day.
In addition to working on the aircraft themselves they overhauled aero engines with the record standing at about 2,400 being stripped, repaired, tested, reassembled, and tested per month and then either put back in aircraft or sent by road or rail to other bases across the UK.
On top of that they had to maintain each component part of every aircraft so there were specialist workshops to work on propellors, radios, life-saving rafts, parachutes, tyres, spark plugs – any part of an aircraft.
Burtonwood was the last US base in the UK (and there were hundreds of them) to close at the end of WWII, finally closing in June 1946, a year after VE Day.
The RAF moved back in and filled it with stored aircraft and spare parts for the remaining US manufactured aircraft in the RAF. However, the Cold War was starting and the Berlin Blockade began in June 1948 and the city relied on British and American aircraft to provide it with everything to keep it alive. The USAF aircraft needed regular comprehensive checks but there was nowhere in Germany that this could be provided.
Burtonwood was pressed back into US service and the RAF had to vacate quickly. Over 1,500, 200-hour checks were carried out here. The Air lift succeeded and Burtonwood settled down into supporting American bombers and fighters based in Britain as a deterrent to potential Soviet aggression. The base was massively enlarged with a runway extension to 9,000 ft long, a new terminal and operations building, a supply warehouse which was the largest in Europe (47 acres under one roof) and housing for dependants.
In the late 1950s the Americans scaled down their activities at Burtonwood and eventually handed it back to the British in 1965. However, due to de Gaulle of France taking France out of NATO, new homes had to be found for the American units based in France. The US Army moved into Burtonwood in 1967 with equipment held in reserve in case of war in Europe. This included huge medical supplies and mobile hospitals; protective clothing against chemical, biological or nuclear attack, millions of rations for the troops, thousands of vehicles from jeeps to 10-ton trucks, prefabricated bridges and much, much more.
With the end of the Cold War in sight and the Middle East war against Saddam Hussain, much material was shipped out to support the American offensive. Slowly the base was emptied and finally closed down in June 1994. After a variety of uses the site was slowly cleared and new development replaced the military buildings. The history is not forgotten as districts and roads retain an American theme and several memorials have been erected with more planned.
The link below will give an idea of the activities and types of aircraft serviced at Burtonwood.
http://www.enginehistory.org/Operations ... wood.shtmlJames Buell Tunison, was stationed at Burtonwood during WWII. He was an Repairs Engineer. He created 6 volumes of photos, each about 40 pages and his son
Jeff Tunison has kindly given permission to post many of his father's photos here on WIX. There's a lot to take in and some really interesting shots of the various aircraft types that visited Burtonwood for repairs or replacements.
Thanks Jeff
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Thanks as always. Wish there were more shots of the US-marked NMF Vultee Vengeance - squadron hack?
